ProDave

If you have solar PV then you really DO want a hot water tank, with a solar PV diverter to send excess power to the immersion heater (rather than export it) an ASHP will probably cost half to run compared to bulk LPG but remember they work best (highest COP) with low temperature water so that means under floor heating or hich capacity low temperature radiators. I am still marvelling at your £200 electricity cost. I have dome measurements when away on holiday. With only a Fridge freezer, mvhr and waste treatment plant, and a sky box left on to record some stuff, use 31kWh per week which works out at £230 per year. Another test during a different holiday, with a second freezer running and two televisions left on standby pushed that up to 46kWh per week or just over £300 per year. I really don't see how to get that base load down. And that is with solar PV that will have offset most of the daytime use of those appliances.

Those are interesting figures. I spend just under £250 pa heating my house with an ASHP but I spend double that powering all the other electrical "stuff" in the house so I am mighty impresses that you only spend £200 on electricity per year.

I didn't get much luck searching that part number, the Earth Save website is not the most friendly they don't seem to quote the model numbers. My concern is that it is one of the "classic" range which I am pretty sure are not inverter driven. What more can you tell us? Power rating etc? have you seen the installation manual? Do you have any pictures? I would want to know WHY it is being replaced.

We have long since determined it is only socks and towels that need to be tumbled to pass the "fluffy" test, but they do not need to come out bone dry, slightly damp and finish off on the pulley is okay. Nothing else goes in the dryer.

It's not normally a planning issue. Building control however WILL be interested.

I have some of the stuff in my "AV / network" cupboard on a simple timer so things like the sky box (and other 2 satellite receivers) and printer are off between midnight and 4PM next day. Just the hifi system and BB router on all the time in there. The Sky box is a huge consumer of power, when that is on, the cupboard really warms up inside. Barely any noticable heat from anything else. Perhaps one day I will seek out a freesat box that consumes very little power but there are a few unique features that still make using an old Sky HD box attractive.

What I found useful was measure the usage over week when you are away. That will give the true base load of essentials, like mvhr, treatment plant, Fridge / freezer, and the few things that must be left on standby (in my test just the router and an old sky HD box because it was set to record some stuff while away) Anything above that true base load is stuff you are using. I also did that another time but left the tv's etc on standby so also had a measure of their standby use.

And I complain at our average base load of about 300W I would suggest you turn the pool off completely for 24 hours and measure your base load for that period. That will tell you how much the pool is using.

Plasterboard as a window sill will not stand up to much use and will wear, dent and chip very easily. As for no overhang, I achieved that a different way. I was using up left over engineered oak floor boards for my window sills, and needed something to cover the unfinished edge so just a bit of wood trim, with the actual board flush with the wall

Talking of rodding, an extra tee and a rodding eye would be a good addition.

What did the survey say when you bought the flat? and how much did you negotiate off the price to correct the issues?

That looks to be the same manifold system as I have, but it is all mounted upside down compared to mine But because yours is upside down, it means your flow and return are backwards, i.e. the manifold leg that comes from the pump is the flow, and the manifold leg that comes from the blending valve is the return. Swap your top and bottom manifold legs over and that will put the actuators at the top and the flow meters at the bottom and it should then work.

Do you have timber floors? If so it would be much better to connect lower down the stack pipe and run a new pipe under the floor.

It sounds like some dodgy dealings during the neigbours extension. They have in effect built over a shared drain, something which is very much frowned upon now. If they raised the pipe to improve the fall you are pretty much stuck with it now. Decking level with your internal floor level should cover it, and fit a proper gulley trap where the sink waste goes. The other issue is the long sweeping rest bend at the bottom of the main stack. It is correct to have a rest bend there, but those brown underground pipes are not UV sensitive. That really wants replacing with a brown or black one, but I have never seen an "above ground" rest bend before. Perhaps painting it black might make it look better?

What is missing from the photo is a a picture of e.g a door or an air brick in the wall so se can see your floor level in relation to the ground level. You definitely want to fill that bit of a trench with some pre gravel pushed under the pipe to properly support it. You don't have much in the way of options and I would suggest decking level with your internal floor level to cover it, I don't understand the story of what the builders did re next door's extension but it does look a recent setup. the owner at the time should have made more of a fuss at what next doors builders were doing.

That sounds like a bargain price. Bite their hand off.

That'll be the flying lead bonding the lid won't it?

I am sure this has been discussed before and there is a real risk of mould and bacteria forming on the inside of the underground pipes and causing serious problems with your air quality. I believe the recommendation for something like this is silver plated pipework that stops mould growth?

A portaloo with a service contract to empty it? I would prefer a caravan type porta potti and just take it off site (to the nearest unmanned public toilet) to empty it.

I wish fridges were sold like hifi, where you could see them in operation in a "listening room" They are not. the best you get is a static display in a big warehouse. I don't believe the spec sheet is anything to go by in reality. It is not until you have bought it and got it home that you find it is noisier than you would like. What are we supposed to do? Keep sending it back for a different make until you find a quiet one?

Not my findings. Our own fridge I find intrusively noisy, which is why I am not a fan of "kitchen / living" spaces. I don't want to sit and watch tv in the same room as the fridge thank you.

I spoke to the home owners today. The decontamination work starts in earnest next week. Apparently there is something like a 4ft crawls space under this house. The plan is to break through an access hatch underground in the gable end supported with suitable lintels, then a team suitably suited with breathing apparatus will crawl in and start digging up the solum and removing the contaminated soil. They have admitted it it may not be possible to successfully decontaminate it this way, with worst case being the house has to be knocked down and rebuilt if this fails.

The hole in your final wall covering needs to be more accurate The lines drawn show the extent of the cover plate so the access hole for the thermal mixer cartridge could nor be any bigger.

Like I say you cannot lump all ASHP's together as the same. My monoblock LG ASHP is very quiet and not a nuisance. But earlier this year I fitted a 12Kw "no name" ASHP that has no inverter so direct online, full power or nothing. It starts with one hell of a "clonk" and the lights in the house dip, the sort of thing the DNO's hate with the big start up current,. and when it's running it is very audible inside the house not least because of vibration transmitted through the pipes. I also fitted a small ground source heat pump many years ago and that had the compressor unit in the utility room and that was very noisy as well. So a small, inverter driven monoblock ASHP well sited outside and with properly done pipework so no noise transmitted through the pipes is what I would recommend.

But that puts the compressor, a large source of the noise, inside the house.